SLOW STEP vol 1(Western Connection, subtitled, 80 mins, £12.99)
A delightful piece of anime and a first for the UK, being in the high school romance genre with not a scrap of SF or fantasy in it. Instead, it is deeply rooted in everyday Japanese life and features comedy, drama, romance and sport, as well as an interesting cast of characters: schoolgirl Minatsu, who plays in the highschool softball team, her sports-mad parents, her two schoolboy admirers, the low-minded softball coach who, to the fascination of the girls, turns out to be a single father, and the tough gang girl who falls for the coach. Minatsu disguises herself to evade some thugs and soon is dating both boys as herself and as "Maria". The character designs are very stylised, but the story is absorbing, and I'll be watching the remaining tapes even if I have to go out and buy them with my own money!
(I had to - G.C.)
SLOWSTEP vols 1,2,3
SLOWSTEP (Western Connection, cert 12, 85m, 85m, 45m £12.99, £10.99)
My nephew likes this tale of everyday Japanese life, solftball and school romance as much as I do. "Slowstep was brilliant This was a lot better than I expected it to be, the characters all related to each other well and the plot made sense."
Schoolgirl Minatsu plays softball for the school team. She has two admirerers as well as the lecherous and
scruffy sports coach, and when she adopts a disguise to shake off some Yakuza gangsters (as one does) she fools the boys into thinking she is two different girls. A sullen gang girl is also setting her cap at the Coach. Fascinating stuff. (GC)